The truth behind claims

Graeme Massie, The Independent

Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s first debate saw chaotic scenes in which the president was accused of repeatedly lying about his record and opponent.

The second and final debate in Nashville, Tennessee, gave both candidates the chance to make their final arguments to the American electorate.

Trump first claimed that he saved the US from suffering 2.2 million deaths from coronavirus.

Experts say this is a false claim from the president.

That figure is taken from a March report from London’s Imperial College and was based on no preventative measures being taken by the US government and population.

With intervention such as social distancing and masks the actual estimate of deaths was between 100,000 and 240,000.

The US has so far seen more than 228,000 deaths and more than 8.6 million cases of Covid-19.

Trump then claimed that a vaccine for the virus would arrive “within weeks.”

Observers say that there is no indication that the vaccine will be widely available before the end of the year and the Food and Drug Administration has rules in place requiring months of data for the emergency use of a new vaccine.

Later Trump admitted that his claim was not a “guarantee” but said he was hopeful it would arrive by the end of the year. Trump then claimed that the virus was “going away” and that the country was “rounding the corner.”

But the virus as measured by newly confirmed cases, hospitalisations and test positivity rate is increasing and not decreasing, according to CNN.

More than 30 states across the US have reported an increase in Covid-19 cases over the last week, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Biden mocked the president for his comments on “injecting bleach” and Trump responded that he had been “kidding” about that.

During the 23 April media briefing Trump said he was interested in finding out about the effectiveness  of “injection inside or almost a cleaning” with bleach.

Trump then accused Biden of supporting strict coronavirus lockdowns and criticised the governor of Pennsylvania, but observers say that coronavirus restrictions in the state have been significantly loosened.

Trump then said that his campaign was not struggling for money and that he could ‘blow away’ the vice president’s fundraising if he wanted to.

Biden and the Democratic Party in fact out raised the Republicans by $135 million in September, $383 million to $247.8 million.

Trump then accused Biden and his family of earning millions of dollars in foreign contributions.

Biden denied taking any money from foreign nations and referred the president to his 22 years of released tax returns.

During the argument over taxes Trump said that the $750 has has been accused of paying in tax was a filing fee, but tax experts say there is no such charge. The president then said he had “prepaid tens of millions of dollars over the last few years” and his taxes were still under audit and he would release them when the audit was over.

Tax experts say there is no reason why Trump cannot release his taxes if they are under audit and the IRS do not prevent him from doing so.

The candidates then clashed over either men having links to China or Ukraine.

 “I don’t make money from China. You do. I don’t make money from Ukraine, you do,” said Trump.

There is no evidence that Biden has any links to corruption in either country, despite the president’s claims about Hunter Biden.

The candidates then moved onto healthcare with Trump claiming Biden supported getting rid of private healthcare in favour of “socialised” healthcare. Biden says that his healthcare plan does not include universal healthcare, but that he supports a public option for Obamacare.

During the foreign policy section of the debate Trump also claimed that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un had previously refused to meet with former president Barack Obama.

Observers say that is false as Obama refused to meet with Kim without preconditions about his country’s development of nuclear weapons.

On climate Trump claimed that Biden and the Democrats wanted to spend $100 trillion on the Green New Deal and that it would force buildings to be constructed with “tiny little windows.”

Biden laughed out loud and said he had no idea where the president was getting the figures from. Trump then accused Biden of wanting to ban fracking.

The former vice president denied he would ban fracking but said he would prevent it on federal land, which experts say is a small proportion of fracking in the US.

During a segment on race Trump insisted that he was “the least racist person in the room.”

Biden replied that the president had “a dog whistle as big as a fog horn.”

 “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history,” said Biden.

Trump has been heavily criticised for refusing to denounce white supremacists and QAnon conspiracy theorists. During the debate Trump accused Biden of having houses “all over the place” as he claimed the former vice president has received money from foreign nations.